In My Arms
by Monny287
Summary: In the middle of the night, Chase finds himself consoling his baby the only way he knows how...reminiscing memories of PCA. CZ


In My Arms

Disclaimer: I own nothing. If I did, don't you think that Chase and Zoey would be together already?

A shrill cry woke Chase from a sound sleep. Groaning and rolling over in his bed, he looked at his clock. The red LED lights read three a.m. Sitting up, he flipped off the covers and scrubbed his face in his hands to wake himself up more. He felt movement from the opposite end of the bed, and heard a mumble next to his arm.

"Shall you get him, or shall I?" came the soft voice of his wife of three years now, Zoey. He smiled before patting her head.

"No, I'll take third shift tonight," he said, slipping his feet into his slippers and standing up. The crying continued, louder and more insistent this time, as Chase padded down the hall to the nursery. Slowly and drowsily, he opened the door.

In the middle of the room sat a handsome oak crib, bathed at this particular hour in a shaft of moonlight spilling into the room from the uncovered window on the far wall. To Chase, it was the perfect little boy's nursery; the walls painted a bright red, and bedecked with pictures of drawn cars and trucks, the only theme he and Zoey had actually agreed upon when they had found out the sex of the baby. The crib bedding was a handsome dark blue, with a red fitted sheet and mobile with vans and fire trucks revolving in a slow circle, coming to a stop just as Chase approached the crib.

The crib's occupant was the picture of discomfort, the poor little boy's legs tucked up near his chest, and his face screwed up in a tight scowl. His face was turning a bright red, his shock of blonde hair turning white against the sharp contrast, and his legs turning a mottled purple. Chase was sure that if the baby wasn't his own child, and if it wasn't three in the morning, the sight would be rather comical, but the sight of his son crying out for human contact tugged at his heartstrings.

"Shhh, alright," he crooned, reaching into the crib to scoop up the baby from his bed. "Daddy's here." Jacob, as was the boy's name, snuggled into the front of Chase's night shirt, grasping the fabric in his hands possessively, and his cries stopping immediately. After changing his diaper, Chase grabbed a bottle from the warmer on the dresser and wearily settled down into the rocking chair in one corner, slowly rocking the chair back and forth with the balls of his feet while watching Jacob slurp happily on his midnight snack.

"I can't wait until you start sleeping through the night, little guy," he said to the baby. Jacob only opened his green eyes and blinked at his father as if to say "sleeping through the night? What's that?"

"Maybe when you get older," Chase chuckled. "Hopefully by the time you go to PCA you'll be sleeping through the night. Otherwise, you'll be in real trouble. I don't want to get any phone calls saying you've fallen asleep in class." Jacob gurgled. Chase thought back nostalgically.

"You know, if it hadn't been for PCA, you wouldn't be here," he said, tickling the boy's tummy. "That's where I met your mother." He rubbed the spot on his head where he had hit it on that pole. "It was actually a rather painful experience."

"Of course, I loved her from the moment I laid eyes on her," he said, rocking a bit more. "She didn't know that, though. Not for a long while. Yeah, once Logan and Michael found out about that, high school became pretty hard for me."

"_Oh, so I guess it goes 'I love you Zoey, from my head down to my toe-y'?" Logan teased._

"_No!" Chase snickered, though after Logan left, he picked up his notebook and a pen. Michael looked at him as if he'd grown a third head. _

"_Don't write that down!" he scolded. Chase looked guilty and set the paper aside. _

"_You were going to write that down, weren't you?" Michael asked accusingly. Chase avoided eye contact. _

"_Maybe…"_ That was just one of many awkward moments in the boy's dorm. Chase chuckled as other resurfaced to the forefront of his mind.

"_Uh-oh? What uh-oh?" Chase was worried now. _

"_You didn't send the message to me," a look of horror passed over Michael's face. _

"_If I didn't send it to you, who did I send it to?" Chase looked at Michael with confusion. _

_"Zoey," that one word sent a lightening bolt of cold fear into Chase's heart. Okay, this was **not** how he planned on telling her he liked her (okay, loved. Okay, he head over heels adored the girl. Happy?), and she was bound to read it, and what in the heck was he supposed to do? Chase for a moment felt faint. _Yeah, that had been an embarrassing spring break. And he was so close to telling her, too!

"If it hadn't been for that stupid fountain, your mom and I wouldn't have had to get together senior year," he said, looking at the baby, who was listening with rapt with attention. Chase thought back to that fateful day in May of their senior year.

_"Go on, dude, tell her," Michael said, prodding Chase in the shoulder blades. _

_"Seriously," Logan said. "It's been what, three, four years now?"_

_"Your point?"_

_"I think you should tell her. Then, at least you'll know how she feels,"_

_"Maybe it's just better if she doesn't know," Chase flopped backwards onto his back on his bed. _

_"Listen, graduation's in a week," Michael said. "If she doesn't love you back, then at least you probably won't have to see her again. You're going to different colleges, right?"_

_"Right,"_

_"There. This is a win-win situation,"_

_"Besides, dude, you're driving all of us insane," Logan said. He smiled into his mirror and nodded his head appreciatively at his reflection. _

_"You know, one day you're going to do that and the mirror is going to break," a voice said from the doorway. _

_"Thanks for the support, Zoey," Logan said, slightly dejected. "So, wanna to make out?" he added, as a slightly joking afterthought. Zoey's face screwed up into a scowl of disgust. _

_"No, Logan, that's okay," she said. "I was just wondering if I could hang here for a bit."_

_"What's up in room 101?" Chase asked, sitting up. _

_"Quinn's heartbroken that she and Mark are going to different colleges, so she's crying her eyes out. Lola's doing catastrophe duty at the moment; she's much better at that then I am. Plus, I'm rather afraid of Quinn at the moment. As I went out the door, she pointed a very strange looking ray-type thing at me. I didn't want to stay around long enough to find out what it did,"_

_"What'd you do to make Quinn so mad?"_

_"Her moods are kind of fluctuating right now between very sad and very angry,"_

_"Well, sure, you can hang here," Michael said, throwing a wad of paper into the wastepaper basket. "But is it okay if it's just Chase? Logan and I have to run to finish up some last-minute graduation stuff."_

_"Umm…sure," Zoey flopped down onto a chair and smiled at the boys. Michael grabbed Logan by the arm and dragged him physically from the room. As he left the room, he mouthed at Chase "Tell her!" Chase rolled his eyes. _

_"Can you believe we're graduating in a week?" Zoey asked, twirling in the computer chair she had sat down in. _

_"I know. The years at PCA seemed to have flown by," Chase said, smiling at her. _

_"All those crazy adventures," she laughed. "Whoever thought a group of friends could get into so many strange situations."_

_"We're a pretty rag tag bunch, huh?" he said. _

_"And isn't it funny how we all paired off?" she ticked off the couples on her hand. "I mean, Logan and Dana finally got together, Lola and Michael, Mark and Quinn, I've heard Nicole's got a boyfriend…everyone but you and me."_

_"Yep," Chase fiddled with a pencil he had found. "Funny."_

_"Oh, well," she said, scuffing her sneakers on the floor. "I've got good friends, and I'm happy with that."_

_"Friendship," Chase said, sweating slightly. "Friendship's good."_

_"Chase, you okay?" Zoey asked, concern written plainly on her face. "You're looking a little—flustered."_

_"No, yeah, I'm fine," Chase said. A moment of silence passed. "Actually…I lied."_

_"So there is something bothering you?"_

_"Yeah," Chase avoided her gaze. This was going to be a hard conversation. _

_"Is the football team bothering you again?"_

_"No, no, it's not that. It's more of an—emotional thing. And it's been going on awhile now,"_

_"Really? You wanna talk about it?"_

_"Not really, but I kinda have to,"_

_"No, Chase, if you don't want to tell me, you don't have to,"_

_"Zoey, I like you,"_

_"I like you, too, Chase, you're my best friend,"_

_"No, I really like you. Actually, I'm in love with you,"_

_"In love with me?" she looked shocked. Chase could only hope that was in a good way. He nodded sheepishly, wringing his hands together. _

_"You're kidding," were the two words Chase heard next. He looked up at her. Kidding? Yeah, right. If she even knew…_

_"Zo, I wouldn't kid about something like that," he said seriously. Zoey shook her head and frowned slightly. _

_"I—I have to go," she said, hopping up from the chair and running out of the room. Chase flopped down heavily onto his bed. _

"Yeah, I thought I blew it," Chase said, looking down at the baby, who was still wide-awake, now done with the bottle, but content to stare at his father's face for as long as he wanted to keep talking. Sighing, Chase reached over to the dresser and flipped open the top of an old music box that had been his mother's gift to her first grandchild. The strains of an ancient lullaby Chase hardly knew the words to filled the small room. Chase smiled down at the baby and continued to reminisce.

_"So, how'd it go?" Michael said as he and Logan rushed back into the room. "Did you tell her?" Chase looked up from his spot on his bed. _

_"What?" he mumbled. _

_"Did you tell her you love her?" Michael sat backwards on a computer chair and leaned over the back, looking at Chase expectantly. Chase nodded weakly. Michael and Logan let out a whoop of joy. _

_"All right, Chase!" Michael cheered. "And what did Zoey say?"_

_"She didn't really say anything," Chase said. "But she did go running out of the room and down the hall about as fast as she could." _

_"Oh," Michael said, his smile falling. "So, no 'I love you too'?"_

_"Nope,"_

_"Not even a let's-just-be-friends speech?"_

_"Nope. All she said was 'I need to go', and ran out,"_

_"Dude, I'm sorry," Michael scooted the chair closer to Chase and patted him on the shoulder. _

_"Yeah, well, at least after next week, I won't have to see her again, so I guess that's good, huh?" Chase said miserably. It wasn't really how he planned on telling her he loved her. He had planned on it being all romantic and stuff, maybe on the beach or out to dinner. _

_"I'm sorry, man," Logan said, coming out of the bathroom, where he had adjourned upon entering the room. _

_"So am I," Chase said. "So am I."_

From down the hall, Zoey Matthews lay wide awake, smiling slightly at the ceiling fan, listening to her husband recall the accounts of PCA life. She felt lucky to have such a loving husband; he was so good with Jacob, something he'd never admit to (mostly because he thought he was a dunce at child-care, when really, he could easily win the Best Father of the Year Award, were there such an award). As she listened to him re-tell that day the week before graduation, she did a little nostalgic reminiscing of her own, mostly of when she returned to room 101 upon running out of the boy's dorm.

_"Hey, Zo," said Lola as she entered the room. She handed Quinn another tissue as tears streamed down her face. "I thought you were headed over to the boy's dorm?"_

_"I did," Zoey said, sitting down heavily on her bed, her emotions swirling around her mind like a horrible tornado, making her sad, angry, happy, and confused all at the same time. She frowned slightly, picking t a loose thread on her bed spread. _

_"Did something happen over there?" Lola asked, absently giving Quinn a sympathetic pat on the shoulder. "You look a little—flustered."_

_"Yeah, I'm fine," she said. "I think."_

_"Okay, something happened. Spill," Lola's eyes bored into her as she hugged a throw pillow. Quinn's cries had turned to sniffles, as she, too, stared at Zoey. _

_"Umm…well…"Zoey avoided their gaze. _

_"Tell us!"_

_"Chase told me…well…he told me he loved me,"_

_"WHAT?!" both girls said at the same time. Boyfriends, packing and graduation were forgotten as this news surfaced. _

_"Yeah, it was a shock to me too," Zoey said. _

_"Well, it's not so much a shock—" Quinn's ramblings were cut short as Lola's elbow rammed into her arm. She took the hint and stopped talking. _

_"Oh, my gosh!" Lola squealed. "What did you say?"_

_"I didn't really say anything," she said, looking bashful. "I said I had to go. And then I came here. Well, first, I said 'you're kidding', and then I came here."_

_"Well, do you love him back?" Lola asked expectantly. _

_"I'm not sure," she said. "I mean, he's my best friend, he's knows pretty much everything about me, and he is kind of cute…"Lola scrunched up her nose. _

_"Sorry, Chase is like my brother," Lola said as a way of explanation. _

_"Anyway, do you love him Zo?" Quinn asked. "Come on, you can tell us."_

_"I—I think I do," Zoey said. Lola and Quinn both let out a squeal of delight. _

_"I knew it!" Lola screamed. "I just knew it!"_

_"Are you sure?" Quinn asked. Zoey looked helpless for a moment, before a smile came over her face. _

_"Yes, I'm sure," she said. "I'm in love with Chase." A moment of silence passed. _

_"Oh, my gosh, I'm in love with Chase!"_

_"You have to tell him, Zoey!" Lola said. Zoey shook her head. _

_"Why not?"_

_"First off, he's probably mad at me for running off earlier, second, he's probably busy, and third, I don't even know where he is right now,"_

_"He's in his dorm," came a voice from the doorway. Dustin leaned against the doorframe with his arms crossed._

_"In his dorm? Are you sure?"_

_"Surer than sure. I was there when he started to bang his head up against the wall for 'being an idiot' as he put it,"_

_"Ouch," Lola said, rubbing her own head. _

_"Zo, go! Go tell him!" Quinn pulled Zoey off the bed and pushed her toward the door. _

_"Yeah," Lola added. "And I don't want to see you unless you and Chase are happily together!" Quinn nodded in agreement and pushed her out the door and closed it behind her. _

_"Good luck, sis," Dustin hit her encouragingly in the arm and walked off towards his room. _

_"Thanks," Zoey mumbled before taking a deep breath and walking in the direction of the boy's dorm. _

Meanwhile, in the nursery, Chase had moved to pacing the floor back and forth with Jacob leaning on his shoulder, not intent on going to sleep anytime soon.

"I was about to move to a different country and change my name," he said, patting his son's back soothingly. "It seemed like the only option. That was, at least, until that evening."

_Chase was pacing his room, alternating between being depressed and angry at himself for telling her, and then being angry at Michael and Logan for pushing him to tell Zoey. _

_"Dude, could you sit down? You're making me nervous," Michael looked up from the sport's magazine he was reading to look at his mumbling friend. Chase paid him no mind, running his hands through his hair and muttering to himself as he walked the length of the room. _

_"Man, you're wearing a hole in the floor," Logan said jokingly. Again, Chase ignored him. Suddenly, there came a knock at the door. As Chase continued to pace, Michael sighed, stood up, and went to open the door. _

_"Zoey!" Michael said, shocked. He looked at Chase, who had stopped pacing and looked at the door as if it had grown five arms and sprouted boils. _

_"Hey, Michael," Zoey said sheepishly. "Is Chase there?" Michael turned back to Chase, who shrugged. _

_"Yeah, sure," he said, stepping aside to allow Zoey into the room. She entered, and looked at her feet. _

_"Hey," Chase said, rubbing the back of his neck._

_"Hey," she said. "Can we talk?"_

_"Umm…sure," Chase said, looking at Michael. He took the hint and left the room, dragging a protesting Logan ("But it's our room, too!") out behind him. _

_"So…"Chase said as soon as they'd left. _

_"So…" Zoey said, still looking at her feet. _

_"What did you want to talk about?"_

_"Umm…about earlier,"_

_"Oh,"_

_"Yeah,"_

_"Listen, Zoey, I'm sorry I said anything. I understand if you just want to be friends—"_

_"Chase…"_

_"I mean, I was an idiot to say anything at all…"_

_"Chase…"_

_"My feelings aren't your problem…"_

_"Chase!"_

_"What?"_

_"I love you,"_

_"What?"_

_"I love you, too,"_

_"Really?"_

_"Yes,"_

_"You're sure?"_

_"Yes," she said, nodding her head. Chase leaned down and kissed her. At that moment was the clincher for both of them. They were meant to be together, that was for sure. After a few more minutes of kiss-filled silence, Chase glanced at his watch. Darn. Almost curfew. He held out his arm. _

_"Shall I escort you back to your dorm?" he asked. She giggled, and took his arm. _

_"I think that would be wonderful," she said, opening the door. As she did, Logan, Michael, Lola, and Quinn tumbled in all at once. _

_"Well…congratulations?" Michael offered with a small smile. _

"And that was the beginning of my life as we know it," Chase said with a smile, watching Jacob's eyelids get heavier and heavier. He patted the baby's back to the beat of the music box lullaby and continued to remember.

_"Will you marry me?" he asked, his knee cold and wet from kneeling in the snow. It was Christmas, and the gang had decided to drive up to Vermont for a good, old-fashioned New England holiday season. It was there that Chase had decided to propose. He'd spent weeks thinking about it, picking out the perfect ring, and now, here he was, and surprisingly, he felt no nervousness. He looked at her expectantly. _

_"Oh, Chase," she said, her eyes filling with tears. "Of course I will."_

"That was one of the happiest days of my life," he said, still pacing. Jacob's breathing was becoming more even, so Chase continued. At least he'd found one thing that put him to sleep.

_"Oh my gosh, Chase!" came the cry one afternoon. Chase jumped up from where he was sitting on the couch reading the newspaper and ran to their bedroom, where Zoey was looking shocked, sitting on the bed. _

_"What is it? What's wrong?" Chase panicked. A look of shocked joy was written on Zoey's face as she contemplated the small white stick she was holding. She looked from the stick to Chase and back to the stick. _

_"Zoey, what's wrong? You're starting to worry me," Chase looked at her with concern. _

_"Chase," she began slowly. "I'm pregnant." The world stopped for a moment in time as Chase digested this information. Pregnant? As in…they were having a baby? He was going to be a father? He was beyond shock. He was beyond shock and into astonishment. Without warning, he picked up his wife and twirled her around the room. _

_"Woo-hoo!" he shouted. "I'm going to be a daddy!"_

_"Hey! Careful with the pregnant lady!" Zoey laughed. He set her down, a huge smile on his face. He couldn't wait for the next nine months. _

By this time, Jacob was asleep, his thumb in his mouth, looking adorable as his chest rose and fell in a predictable manner. Chase smiled. Finally, he was asleep. And it only took Chase reiterating his life at PCA and beyond. He stopped in front of the crib and carefully lowered the little boy into it. Taking a warm fleece blanket from where it hung over the edge of the crib, he tucked it around the baby and tip-toed out of the room, closing the door behind him softly as he went. He padded back down the hallway and climbed back into bed next to Zoey, wrapping and arm around her waist.

"Did he enjoy the tale of your life at PCA?" she smiled, half asleep.

"I don't know how much of it he understood, but it did put him to sleep,"

"I can't wait until he starts sleeping through the night,"

"Me neither,"

"Until then, though, it was a very good excuse to reminisce,"

"I know," Chase chuckled. "I love you."

"I love you, too,"


End file.
